Tools to Start a Small Business
When you work for yourself, the right tools can help you save time and money. Aside from the obvious tools: a computer with plenty of memory, a space-saving All-in-One (link to Brother), shredder and other tools mentioned on Startup Nation, there are other not-so-obvious tools that can help you start and grow a business.
Reliable backup systems
Hardware is easy to replace, while data and everything you create on your computer, usually is irreplaceable. The time to think about having a reliable backup system is before, not after, your computer crashes.
A good way to protect your data is to have more than one backup system. In fact, three backup systems is the ideal number. Start with an external hard drive in your home office, add another external hard drive that you keep off-site, and then use a virtual backup, for example Carbonite, Mozy and iDrive. You never know when your computer is going to die, or in my case, drown in a cup of coffee I spilled, so it’s important to be prepared for anything.
Design tools
Anything that leaves your home office needs to be professional. That includes sales materials, business cards, posters and brochures. Unless you have design and layout skills, you may need some help.
The Brother Creative Center (it’s free) has easy-to-use templates to help you create the promotional materials you need to increase your exposure and spread the word about your business. The templates will help you save time that otherwise you would have spent trying to think of layout ideas and choosing the right fonts.
High-Speed Internet
Whether you use cable, your phone company, or another company as your Internet provider, go for speed. The time you wait for images and files to download is time you could spend doing something else. One Internet provider’s prices may seem cheaper, yet if they can’t help you save time, you’re not saving money.
Also make sure that you have consistent service. If your service goes out even for an hour or two a day, that’s time you can’t be productive and you’ll have to resort to using your handheld all day.
Cell phone
When I first started working from home many years ago, I had a business line and a fax line. Now my cell phone and e-mail account can handle business calls and any info I need to send to anyone. If you’re not in your home office often, a cell phone with good coverage is invaluable.
When your cell phone doubles as your business line, it’s important to consider whether you should switch carriers if you drop too many calls. Not only do you come across as unprofessional, you’re going to annoy your clients when they can’t hear you on the other line.
Cell phone plans change often, so don’t forget to check with your carrier every six months to see if they are offering any specials. I’ve been able to drop my monthly charge twice.
Website
If you’re serious about starting and running a successful business, you need a website. Some people pride themselves on word of mouth marketing and that’s fine for them. Most of us, though, need more exposure and a website is the best place to start.
For a small cost — actually think of it as an investment — you can have a site that provides valuable information and of course, a reason for others to contact you for your services or to buy your products.
Don’t be surprised if the first site you use for your company changes over time. Most people go through several site makeovers before they settle on one that works for them. As your business changes, so will your site, so it can reflect the feel and culture of your business.
Starting your own business takes time and money. The right tools, even the ones that aren’t so obvious, can help you save both.
April 6th, 2012 at 11:38 am
Business phone system,Business voip…
[...]Business Blogs » Blog Archive » Tools to Start a Small Business[...]…
April 7th, 2012 at 8:37 am
I can’t agree more with every one of these points.
Thanks for the tip!
Business Strategies International
April 7th, 2012 at 11:36 am
Great article, Lisa.
Add to that getting an application for your iPhone or smart phone called Square.com https://squareup.com/ , allows you to take mobile payments using Credit/Debit Cards AND cash and gives an email receipt to your customer.
I wouldn’t leave home without it.
Kevin
April 7th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Also, try this new online service called BizEquity. It is very helpful.
http://www.bizequity.com
Value your business in minutes!
April 7th, 2012 at 6:54 pm
Good list for the people getting started in a business!
Four more to add:
- business cards
- quality printer / scanner
- fax line or a fax machine (not used as much these days, but when one is needed they can be a lifesaver)
- professional looking letterhead - can make a company that’s run out of a bedroom look like one that’s run out of a boardroom
April 9th, 2012 at 10:47 pm
A good start up guide lines given for the people who are new in the field of business.
April 10th, 2012 at 4:55 am
Thanks for writing this. I started reading your article and couldn’t stop. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well.
April 10th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
Every business needs some form of web conferencing. Check out AnyMeeting.com. It’s got all of the same features the big guys have(WebEx, GoToMeeting, etc),but it’s free.
April 13th, 2012 at 11:45 am
In short, I think that we can enable ourselves to be effective by identifying phases of our work that have to be dealt with, but that are not the core of our business, and implementing solutions that facilitate the streamlining of our processes. I believe that integrating this thinking into a habit is in fact a certain high yield investment for the long run.
As a small business web designer I have identified tools that make a difference for business that rely on content rich websites.
For example, being able to check spelling from the website text editor. Having the right spelling tool from the website text editor prevents the user from using a separate word editor to write and check spelling. The pitfall of using a secondary word editor, to write our content, spell check our content, cutting this content, and pasting this content into the actual website’s text editor, is time invested in a minutia (for lack of a better word) activity. Furthermore, more often than not, both editor will embed styling code into the content, which will result in ugly unintended looking typography and/or font size. And we’ll end up having to manually change and correct the styling of our content.
If in the other hand, we have a spelling tool integrated into our website’s text editor, we can write and spell check our content from the same input area; and invest our energy in writing valuable content, getting more clients, or improving our core skills.
It takes courage to recognize how we waste our time, and it takes discipline to implement mechanisms that facilitate better performance.
May 8th, 2012 at 10:16 am
I think you should add ‘calculator’ to your list (or at least a mention of personal finance software, such as Quicken). All too often people forget about the complications that business finance can cause without proper preparation - if you want my advice, find the best firm of accountants in your area and use them! For those readers from Essex, I highly recommend this firm of accountants in Chelmsford.
May 26th, 2012 at 1:45 am
It’s also essential that after establishing these factors, we should be consistent in delivering our service to our customers and of course, in maintaining the image aspect of our business.
June 6th, 2012 at 3:21 am
Hi there
Nice article. I think more and more small businesses are taking to call recording software these days as it allows them to trackback on past conversations and safeguard themselves more. Definitely worth looking into if you handle customer calls directly.
Cheers
July 9th, 2012 at 2:53 am
Networking is also very important to keep the data safe when two or more than people are working at a place than having two or three backup systems. Online presence is far more important today than anything to get good turn over from your business. Although it requires the cell phone, visiting cards and many other things.